Jenny Willott MP

Working for you all year round

Dumbfounded Government Scraps £11m Online Pensions Calculator

October 26, 2006 1:17 PM

Today Pensions Minster, James Purnell MP, announced that the Government will drop its online pensions planner at a cost of £11 million due to the difficulty of 'delivering accurate online information about state pensions'.

Commenting, Jenny Willott, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central and member of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, said:

"It is farcical that we now have a state pensions system that is so complex, that even the Department of Work and Pensions itself feels incapable of describing what people will receive upon their retirement.

"Government tinkering, half promises and half solutions have merely added further uncertainty to the most complicated pensions system in the world.

"It is no wonder that there are around half a million adults in Wales who are not saving for future retirement. How does the Government expect to encourage people to build a pension when even their own experts are unsure of the maths involved?

"If we are to encourage people to save for their pension, it is essential that we create an easily understood citizens pension that clearly sets out every persons rights and responsibilities in providing for their retirement".